The Future of Australian Basketball is in good hands

At the same time a group of Australian players who are relatively unknown right now but no doubt will be household names when they most likely will make up the core of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The Australian Under 17 squad will take on the worlds best at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship which is being held June 29 – July 8 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

The star of the team may be Dante Exum, son of former Melbourne Tigers import Cecil Exum who also won a NCAA Championship at North Carolina alongside Michael Jordan. Dante however does not need to rest his hat on his father’s achievements as he already has made his own mark on the Australian basketball landscape after becoming the youngest Australian Boomer ever when was invited to a 2011 Boomers camp in Perth. Boomers coach Brett Brown has said Exum is “highly skilled and he will represent Australia one day”.

Dante Exum becomes the youngest Boomer ever!

Exum won’t be expected to carry the load himself however with talented players who also share connections to NBL players with Ben Simmons and Jack Purchase both sons of Melbourne Tigers championship players Dave Simmons and Nigel Purchase.

NAME

DOB

STATE

Benjamin SIMMONS

7/1/1996

VIC

Mirko DJERIC

17/04/1995

NSW

Nicholas DUNCAN

13/03/1995

NSW

Dante EXUM

13/07/1995

VIC

Matt JACKSON

17/05/1995

VIC

Fabijan KRSLOVIC

23/06/1995

NSW

Michael LUXFORD

23/02/1995

VIC

Darcy MALONE

2/01/1995

ACT

Gerard Martin

NSW

Jack PURCHASE

26/06/1995

VIC

Felix VON HOFE

VIC

The team will be coached by former Cairns Taipans NBL coach Guy Molloy who currently coaches the Ballarat Miners SEABL Men’s team. The squad hopes to improve on the sixth-place effort achieved by the Australian team two years ago. That team was led by potent scoring from Townsville’s Mitch Norton, who will be a big key to success of the Townsville Crocodiles this season and South Australian Daniel Carlin who currently plies his trade with the Casper College Thunderbirds in the US College system.

Australia, who are currently ranked 9th in the tournament, have no chances of easing into their games with an opening match-up against the reigning Under 17 World Champions, the United States. Which features talented Small Forward Jabari Parker who is currently considered to be the High School player in the United States, not to mention a lock for the NBA Draft in 2014.

A positive about playing the US in the first game will be the fact that they will not have to face them until the medal rounds if the team advances that far.“No doubt we feel we have a deeper and more talented team than in 2010, but in tournament play, anything can happen,” said Molloy, who was at the Helm of the coach in Germany in 2010 when the Australian team were bounced by the United States in the Final Eight.

The team must also advance past China, Czech Republic, Egypt and France who round out the teams in their pool. No doubt the eyes of Australian basketball fans will be focus on the Boomers and Opals National team’s this week, but there are some young tyro’s who are bound to make so noise themselves across the other side of the globe.